Network connection communication system

ABSTRACT

Provided is a technology that makes it possible for billing and balance management in the form of units that are difficult to understand for a user, to be expressed and managed in the form of units that are easy to understand from the viewpoint of the actual purpose of use. The network connection communication system is provided with means for expressing the unit price of network usage in terms of units that a user can understand more intuitively in the light of the purpose for which the network is used. For instance, the number of connection minutes (time), the number of books purchased and downloaded over the network, or the number of connections to a communicating partner can be used depending on the purpose of use of a service.

CROSS-REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/256,433, filed Dec. 20, 2011, whichclaims the benefit of, and priority to, the National Stage ofInternational Application No. PCT/JP2010/054114, filed Mar. 11, 2010,which claims the benefit of Japanese Application No. 2009-061866, filedMar. 13, 2009, the disclosures of which are all incorporated herein byreference.

The invention of the present application relates to a system forproviding a service which allows an information terminal to be connectedfor communication, via a fixed network or a mobile wireless network, toa user that utilizes another information terminal and to an unspecifiedplurality of servers connected to a network such as the internet forinstance. In particular, it relates to a service billing method in asystem in which one or a plurality of schemes from among a plurality ofnetwork communication schemes are selectively used upon billing forallowing connection of an information terminal to a network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When a user, as the owner of an information terminal, obtainedinformation from a server via a network, the information terminal wasconnected physically to a fixed communication network, or to a mobilewireless network, and the information terminal accessed a server via anetwork such as the internet. In this case, communication speed andcommunication costs were different if the plurality of networks involvedrespectively different communication schemes. The user couldrespectively conclude connection service agreements with individualservice providers that provide services over the networks having theseparate communication schemes. In the service of providing a pluralityof kinds of network connection, a connection time was purchasedbeforehand for a time-limited use charging. In addition, connectionservices have been provided that are billed on a monthly flat rate basisor on pay-as-you-go basis depending on data volume.

Prior art examples of the above are given below.

Japanese Patent No. 2939723 (Patent document 1) discloses a time-limited use charging system for internet wherein a terminal havingclient software installed therein is connected to the internet throughdial-up to a port of an internet connection service provider, via atelephone line, such that connection is allowed until a connectionfrequency, set beforehand for each client and which denotes the time ofavailable use, reaches 0 (zero) through subtraction.

Japanese Patent No. 3434271 (Patent document 2) discloses a networkconnection system, a connection fee calculation method in a networkconnection service, and a billing system in a network connectionservice, wherein a fee-charging classification pattern is recordedbeforehand for each user, in cases where the line utilization fee isdifferent depending on, for instance, the site of user access, and theperson that pays the line utilization fee may be a sender or arecipient, and cases where billing companies that bill for the networkconnection service fee and for the line utilization fee are differententities, as a result of which, a billing address and sum for the lineutilization fee are calculated referring to the charging pattern, andbilling data is generated by totaling the service utilization fees.

Non-patent document 1 discloses a product “b mobile HOURS” (combinationof PHS communication and public wireless LAN), in which there isprovided an internet connection service through purchase beforehand ofthe number of hours, such that communication is enabled by selectingeither PHS communication or public wireless LAN. If a public-line LAN isused, the service is such that usage is unlimited one day at a time, andfive hours are subtracted from the time balance of the user, out of thepurchased time.

Non-patent document 2 discloses a press release by Japan CommunicationsInc. on Mar. 10, 2009, of a product “b mobile 3G DOCCICA”, being aservice in which the user buys beforehand usage time of use of a WCDMAnetwork, and connection is available until the balance time is used up,such that communication is enabled by selecting either WCDMAcommunication (3G data communication) or public wireless LANcommunication (WiFi). If a public line LAN is used, the service is suchthat usage is unlimited one day at a time, and 30 minutes are subtractedfrom the time balance.

Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2939723

Patent document 2: Japanese Patent Publication No. 3434271

Non-patent document 1 (Japan Communications Inc. press release of Mar.15, 2005, “Japan Communications Inc. launches new b-mobile hours forcasual-mobile internet”; internet <URL:1268273886156_0.html>

Non-patent document 2 (Japan Communications Inc. press release of Mar.10, 2009, “Japan Communications Inc. introduces new charging scheme“Doccica”, by which wireless LAN can be used in Shinkansen and 3G3G+WiFi can be easily used at the destination”; internet<URL:1268273886156_1.html>

Conventionally, fees have been determined based on the transmitted bitcount or number of packets, in environments where communication takesplace through connection to a server upon selection of an arbitrarynetwork from among a plurality of networks. However, these data volumesdepend on the web site and so forth, and on the expression of theinformation that is obtained via the network. Also, the data volume isoften not definite beforehand at the time of accessing the information.Therefore, pay-as-you-go billing depending on packet volume was hard tounderstand for the user in that the volume of data for communication wasdifficult to predict. In a case where the service is provided under amonthly flat rate, for instance, the user paid a flat fee also for amonth in which the service had hardly been used, which impressed theuser as wasteful.

Network communication fees must be paid for each scheme when thecommunication network that the system can use spans a plurality ofcommunication schemes. Also, depending on the communication network, thebilling schemes may be based on amount of data used, flat rates or timerates, and are confusing for the user. In the case for instance ofelectronic mail, the volume of data that utilizes the network increaseswhenever an external mail arrives, even if the user is not particularlyoperating the terminal. In web browsing, by contrast, the data volume Iconsumed varies depending on the purpose for which the network is used,such as network communication only at the time where the web is actuallyaccessed for referring to information sites or the like. However, thebilling system is often based exclusively on communication time or datacommunication volume, and it was thus hard for the user to feelintuitively that the communication fees are correctly priced.

A problem arose in that it was thus hard for the user to understand atime subtracting process depending on the network to be used in a caseof a service such that one network out of a plurality thereof isselected for connection to the internet, and such that, for instance,the usage of the service is allowed until there are exhausted the numberof connection hours, being the number of usage units, purchased inadvance by the user, as the number of hours that the service can utilizeany of the networks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A main object of the present invention is to provide a technology thatmakes it possible for billing and balance management in the form ofunits that are difficult to understand for a user, as in conventionalcases, to be expressed and managed in the form of units that are easy tounderstand from the viewpoint of the actual purpose of use. A furtherobject is to provide a technology wherein, in case of multiple purposes,units are managed in the form of neutral units independently from thepurpose for which the units are used. It is yet another object toprovide a technology that allows increasing the utilization efficiencyof network resources, regardless of the type of communication, eitherwireless or fixed, by urging the user to utilize the network in ways andat timings that afford greater savings in network costs.

In order to solve the above problems, in the invention of the presentapplication, there is provided means for expressing the unit price ofnetwork usage in terms of units that a user can understand moreintuitively in the light of the purpose for which the network is used.Depending on the purpose of use of the service, for instance, there canbe used connection minutes (time), or the number of books (number orarticles) purchased and downloaded over the network, or the number ofconnections with a partner for communication.

In a first main aspect of the present invention, there is provided aserver connection system (network communication connection system)having: means for connection to a plurality of networks; means forpay-as-you-go billing of data in time units; means for subtracting(counting down) in minute units or the like, and displaying a remainingtime; means (UI: user interface) through which the user designates startand end of use; a timer that counts usage time; a database that managesremaining time (minutes); a database that manages characteristics ofusage conditions, on the basis of coefficients; and means for convertingthe available remaining time according to the usage conditions.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the means of subtractingdata in the time units can do so in minute units.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the number of books canbe used as the usage unit.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, there is providedmeans for individually converting and displaying the number of usageunits according to a given fixed sum, for each selectable network, uponpurchase or addition of the number of usage units.

The present invention makes it possible for billing and balancemanagement in the form of units that are difficult to understand for auser, as in conventional cases, to be expressed and managed in the formof units that are easy to understand from the viewpoint of the actualpurpose of use. Further, the present invention allows increasing theutilization efficiency of network resources, regardless of the type ofcommunication, either wireless or fixed, by urging the user to utilizethe network in ways and at timings that afford greater savings innetwork costs.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration of the presentinvention (example);

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a networkconnection control screen in a terminal 1 of a first example;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the internal configuration of a servicemanagement center 4 of the first example;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a calculation procedure of conversiondisplay values by a unit converter;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another display example of a networkconnection control screen in a terminal of the first example;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of acoefficient management database;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of internalprocessing in the service management center 4 of the first example;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the internal configuration of theservice management center 4 in a second example;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a networkconnection I control screen in a terminal of the second example;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a table configuration example of auser database 32 b in a third example; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display screen example of a paymentbalance in the third example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention (for instance, Examples 1 to 3) areexplained next with reference to accompanying drawings.

Example 1

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the network configuration of thepresent invention (for instance, Example 1). In FIG. 1, a terminal 1 isused by a user in order to enjoy services through connection to anetwork. The terminal 1 can communicate with three networks. Theterminal 1 can communicate with, firstly, a W-CDMA mobile communicationnetwork , as a wireless communication network A. Secondly, the terminal1 can connect with a fixed network as a fixed communication network X,and thirdly, the terminal 1 can communicate with WiMAX (wireless LAN) asa wireless communication network B.

The terminal 1 in the present example can display buttons on a screen,such that the user can operate the buttons displayed on the screen by,for instance, directly touching with his/her fingers, or by tapping withthe tip of a pen or the like, at any point of the screen. When connectedto a wireless communication network, the terminal 1 communicates with abase station 2 a or 2 b via a wireless network. Each base station 2 aand 2 b is connected to gateway 3 a and 3 b, respectively. When theterminal 1 communicates via a fixed communication network X, theterminal 1 is connected to a gateway 3 x. The gateways (3 a, 3 b, 3 x)are connected to a service management center 4, such that data exchangedthrough wireless or fixed communication, using respective differentschemes, is communicated to the service management center 4.

In the service management center 4, it is determined whether to allowconnection to the internet in accordance with some status, such aspresence or absence of remaining time, when the user attempts to use aservice via the terminal 1; also, the service management center 4manages the number of minutes (time) of available connection that theuser purchased beforehand. The service management center 4 is connectedto the internet 5 and is connected directly, not by way of the internet5, to a server 6 c and a second terminal 7 b. The server 6 a and a thirdterminal 7 a are connected to the internet 5. An information database 6b is connected to the server 6 a, such that the information database 6 bmanages information supplied to the terminal 1 by the server 6 a.Similarly, an information database 6 d is connected to the server 6 c,such that the information database 6 d manages information supplied bythe server 6 c. For the sake of a simpler explanation in the presentexample, three terminals and two servers are depicted in FIG. 1, but thenumber of terminals and servers that can be connected in the system isnot limited thereto.

FIGS. 2(a) to 2(d) are diagrams illustrating four kinds of displayexamples of a network connection control screen (window) of the terminal1. FIG. 2(a) displays “300 minutes” as the remaining time 22 a ofconnection currently available to the user, within a window 21 adisplayed on the terminal 1. The remaining time is a value purchasedbeforehand by the user, or received from a third party. The “connected”23 a button is tapped by the user when the latter wishes the terminal 1to be connected to the network. The portions 24 a at which “WCDMA”,“fixed” and “WiMAX” are displayed are all network selection buttons.These buttons are of toggle type, i.e. are selected when tapped once,and are unselected when tapped again in that state. The user taps anybutton to select one or more networks and enable connection thereby.

For instance, when the user taps a “connected” 23 a button in a statewhere only “WCDMA” is selected, as in FIG. 2(a), the terminal 1 attemptsconnection to the base station 2 a via a wireless communication networkA (W-CDMA) and to the service management center 4 via the gateway 3 a,as illustrated in FIG. 1. The terminal 1 connects to the network ifconnection of the terminal 1 is allowed by the service management center4. The network connection control screen is displayed as in 21 b of FIG.2(b). Herein, a “disconnected” 23 b button is displayed for use when theuser wishes to break the connection off.

FIG. 2(c) illustrates a display example in a case where the user selects“fixed network” as the network. Herein, the user has modified theselected network from WCDMA in FIG. 2(a) to “fixed”. As a result, the“300 minutes” displayed as remaining time are now displayed as “43,200minutes (30 days)”. The communication unit price of internet access ischeaper via a fixed network than via WCDMA, and hence the displayindicates that using the number of usage units in possession of the userenables communication over a longer time period.

FIG. 2(d) illustrates a display example of an instance where, in thestate of FIG. 2(a), the user selects simultaneously both WCDMA and WiMAXas networks. Herein, “100 minutes” is displayed as the remaining time.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the internal configuration of theservice management center 4. Firstly, the connection management unit 31manages the connection state at the portion that receives the connectionfrom the terminal 1 according to the different communication schemes (inthe present example, “W-CDMA mobile wireless network”, “fixed linenetwork” and “WiMAX mobile wireless network”). The service managementcenter 4 has a user authentication unit 32 a that authenticates the userupon connection of the terminal 1; a user database 32 b that storesinformation relating to the user, including data relating to theremaining time of available connection; a unit transformer (unitconverter) 33 a that transforms (converts) the remaining time that theuser has, on the basis of, for instance, the kind of network and/or thekind of service; and a coefficient management database 33 b that managescoefficients that are used during the unit transformation process andthat vary depending on, for instance, the kind of network and the kindof service. The service management center 4 has also a purchaseprocessing unit 35 that performs a process of purchasing anew unit timewhen the remaining time available to the user is insufficient, and acommunication monitoring unit (communication management unit) 36 thatmonitors the communication in terms of, for instance, a networkutilization ratio.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the calculation procedure of conversiondisplay values by the unit converter 33 a. Herein there is calculated aconversion display value (time in minute units in the present firstexample) by multiplying a remaining time in minute units, of the presentfirst example, by various coefficients according to the service type,communication scheme type, terminal type, and the status of the networkutilization ratio.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a further display example of thenetwork display control screen in the terminal 1. FIG. 5 illustrates adisplay example of conversion results obtained using a service typecoefficient.

FIGS. 6(a) to 6(d) illustrate a coefficient management table that isstored in a coefficient management database 33 b. FIG. 6(a) illustratescoefficients according to network type, FIG. 6(b) illustratescoefficients according to service type, and FIG. 6(c) illustratescoefficients according to the type of the terminal 1 that is employed bythe user. FIG. 6(d) illustrates the response of the coefficientaccording to the network utilization ratio, which denotes the degree ofcongestion of the network.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of internalprocessing at the service management center 4. In particular, FIG. 7illustrates the flow of processing after request for remaining timeinformation by the terminal 1 up to display of the information.

The first example is explained in more detail below. In the firstexample, a remaining time management unit 34 a, being a remaining unit(usage unit) management unit, counts down (subtracts) the remaining timeby means of a timer 34 b.

The flow up to display of information, obtained by the terminal 1,relating to the remaining time, will be explained first with referenceto FIG. 7. Upon start of the process (S71) the terminal 1 of FIG. 1requests remaining time information on that user, together with userinformation, to the remaining time management unit 34 a (S72).

The time management unit 34 a searches, and reads, the remaining timefrom the user database 32 b (S73). Next, the time management unit 34 asends the remaining time and various information items to the unitconverter 33 a (S74). The various information items include herein thenetwork type to which the user is connected, the service type and theterminal type. The unit converter 33 a refers to the coefficientmanagement database 33 b, and calculates a conversion value (S75). Theunit converter 33 a delivers the conversion result to the connectionmanagement unit 31 (S76). The connection management unit 31 delivers theconversion result to the terminal 1. The terminal 1 updates the display22 (22 a and so forth) of remaining time. The flow of the series ofprocesses is over thereby.

An explanation follows next, with reference to the screen displayexample of FIG. 2 and the coefficient management table of FIG. 6, onconversion/calculation of minutes (time) as the usage unit. If “fixed”is selected, as illustrated in FIG. 2(c), in a state where a WCDMAnetwork is selected in FIG. 2(a), the original time “300 minutes” forconnection via a WCDMA network is multiplied by a coefficient “144”assigned to “fixed” in the coefficient management table (FIGS. 6(a)),and “43,200 minutes (30 days)” is displayed as a result. This indicatesthat the worth of 300 minutes of available connection via the WCDMAnetwork is converted to an equivalent worth of 43,200 minutes ofavailable connection in the case of connection via a fixed network.

In FIG. 2(d), by contrast, the user selects both “WCDMA” and “WiMAX”.This indicates that a substantial amount of data is to be exchanged,over a shorter time, through the simultaneous use of two networks.Therefore, the remaining time, which was originally “300 minutes” for acase of “WCDMA” alone, becomes now “100 minutes”. In the coefficientmanagement database 33 b (FIG. 6(a)), the coefficient for W-CDMA (3G) is“1”, and the coefficient for WiMAX is “2”. Accordingly, the 100 minutesare calculated through the operation 300×(1/(1+2))=100. This indicatesthat 100 minutes worth of connection are allowed for communication whenboth WCDMA and WiMAX are selected. Conversion is performed so that theremaining time decreases, in compensation for the fact that data isexchanged at higher speed through the simultaneous use of the resourcesof a plurality of networks.

FIG. 5 illustrates the influence of selected service type on theremaining time conversion. In 51 a of FIG. 5(a) mail is selected as theservice type. This indicates that the user is limited to the exchange ofmail over this connection. Herein, the original remaining time of “300minutes” in FIG. 2(a) is increased to “7,200 minutes”. This indicatesthat now 300 minutes×24=7,200 minutes, since the coefficient in thecoefficient management table (FIG. 6(b)) for the case of mail alone, asthe service type, is “24”. That is, a connection that could beoriginally used for 5 hours can be now used for 5 days.

In a case where the system is used with a focus on mail, in particularin wireless communication, a function is ordinarily resorted to suchthat, when a mail arrives, mail data reaches the terminal activelypushed by the mail server, at least apparently. In an actual operation,the terminal 1 checks periodically, via the network, whether a new mailhas arrived to the mail server. In many cases, however, no new mail isthere upon checking As a result, the user may be reluctant to go onconsuming minutes (time), as the usage units, while in mere standby withno communication of data itself taking place. Also, no network band isactually consumed in communication with the terminal 1 during that time.Accordingly, the worth of the effective remaining time is increased.

In a case where both “mail” and “web” are selected, the conversiondepends on service types that involve a greater utilization of thenetwork, and, for instance, there is used the smallest value from amongthe coefficients of the respective service types that are applicable.For example, there is used a coefficient “1” that is assigned to web.Therefore, the remaining time is converted from “7,200 minutes” (52 a inFIGS. 5(a)) to “300 minutes” (52 b in FIG. 5(b)), and is displayed.

Example 2

A second example is explained below. FIG. 8 illustrates the internalconfiguration of the service management center 4 in a second example ofthe present invention. FIG. 9 illustrates four screen display windows asexamples of display, on the terminal 1, of a balance (number ofremaining books) in a second example of the present invention.

In the first example described above, the units for conversion were“minutes” (time). However, the invention is not necessarily limitedthereto, and there may be used units according to the purpose for whichthe terminal of the user is used. In the second example an example isillustrated wherein the terminal 1 is display terminal of an electronicbook. The user can designate and purchase beforehand the number ofelectronic books (or a right thereto) that the user wishes to read a onthe terminal 1, through download via a network. In the case of, forinstance, a purchase of the right to download 10 books by paying 1000yen, a remaining book number management unit 84 a, as a remaining unitmanagement unit of the second example, manages not minutes (time) as inthe first example, but number of books (for instance, 10 books). Theremaining book number management unit 84 a counts down (subtracts) thenumber of remaining books using a counter (book counter) 84 b. Thenumber of remaining books (10 books) is displayed on the connectioncontrol display of the terminal 1. In this example, the fee includes anetwork communication fee, a server access service fee, and anelectronic book information fee. Therefore, one purchase by the userimplies payment of all the expenses involved in getting and reading theelectronic book in the terminal 1.

An example is explained next, with reference to FIG. 9, of conversiondisplay of the number of remaining books in accordance with the type ofcommunication scheme of the network to which the terminal is connectedand in accordance with the status of the network utilization ratio. In awindow (screen) 91 a of FIG. 9(a), firstly, WCDMA is selected as thenetwork, and the congestion of the WCDMA network at that time (portion97 a of the display) is “ordinary”. Herein, the congestion (97 a and soforth) of the network is determined on the basis of the utilizationratio of the network as monitored by the communication management unit36. In the present second example, as illustrated in FIG. 6(d), thecongestion status is defined as “clear” if the network utilization ratiois smaller than 20%, as “ordinary” if the network utilization ratioranges from 20% or greater to less than 80%, and “congested” if networkutilization ratio is 80% or greater. This status (congestion) is sent tothe terminal 1 from a center, upon request by the terminal 1, and isdisplayed on a window. In 92 a, the number of remaining books isdisplayed as 10.

An example is illustrated next, from window 91 b of FIG. 9(b) onwards,of an instance where the user selects “WiMAX” as the network. The state(congestion) is “current network: ordinary”. Therefore, “20 books” isdisplayed as the result of the conversion of the number of remainingbooks in that state, using FIG. 6(a) and FIG. 6(d) of the coefficientmanagement database 33 b. This figure derives from a coefficient “2” fornetwork type “WiMAX” in FIG. 6(a), and a coefficient “1” in FIG. 6(d)since the network utilization ratio is “ordinary”; that is 10×2×1=20.

Thereafter, as indicated by 91 c in FIG. 9(c), the network state becomes“congested”. This denotes a state wherein multiple users are using thenetwork. Herein, the coefficient in FIG. 6(d) changes from “ordinary”“1” to “congested” “0.3”. A value reduced to 6 books, namely 10×2×0.3=6,is displayed. That is, the display indicates that the worth purchased bythe user beforehand drops from 20 books to 6 books when book data isdownloaded over a congested network. Supposing that, in this state, theuser downloads one book, the number of remaining books drops to 5 books.Now, 91 d in FIG. 9(d) illustrates an example where the state of thenetwork becomes “ordinary” immediately thereafter. Accordingly, 17 books(92 d) are displayed as the number of remaining books. This is theresult of the calculation 5/0.3=17 (with fractional rounding). Thus, thenetwork “worth” increases, and the worth of the downloadable stockdecreases accordingly, when the network is congested with a high networkutilization ratio. The 20 books were supposed to be purchasable in thecase of an “ordinary” network state. By purchasing one book at a time of“congested” network, however, the purchase right that remains once thestate of the network reverts later to “ordinary” is only 17 books. Theuser can be said to have elected to execute a purchase at an instantwhere the network state was “congested”, even the expense of sacrificingtwo books that could have been used. As a result, the system can inducethe user to download book data at a time where the network utilizationratio is lower. This is effective for promoting a more efficient networksupply, through spreading of the network utilization ratio.

In another application example, the unit of the worth of network use canbe managed not in the form of minutes (time) or purchasable number ofbooks, but in the form of the number of times over which connection ispossible between a communicating partner (or server) and a partner (orserver) thereof. In this case, the user purchases the number ofconnections with a partner (user). For instance, the stock of remainingnumber of times available to the user for connecting with a partner isrendered smaller through association of a small coefficient, accordingto a partner (user identifier) or server (IP address) to which moreusers are connected.

In the examples thus far, the unit converter 33 a and the coefficientmanagement database 33 b are both held in the service management center4, but the unit converter 33 a and the coefficient management database33 b can be easily adapted to an example where replicated data of theforegoing are held in the terminal 1. In this case, communication isestablished with the service management center 4 at periods specifiedbeforehand in the terminal 1, or as instructed by the user, and thecontent of the coefficient management database 33 b is replicated in theterminal 1. As a result, when the user intends to connect to theterminal 1 to the network, a remaining time such as those illustrated inFIG. 2 can be converted and displayed, by connection type, before thestart of the actual connection. This is easier to understand for theuser, and network resources can be used more effectively in that networkconnections for confirmation are rendered unnecessary.

Example 3

As the case may require, the user may perform an additional purchaseonline (using, for instance, the purchase processing unit 35 or thelike), from the terminal 1, for purchased usage units (minutes (time),number of books (number of articles), number of times (number ofconnections) of allowed communication (connection) with a partner,number of points (neutral point count in terms of the purpose of use initself, for instance electronic currency, mileage points or the like)).A third example will be explained next with reference to FIG. 10 andFIG. 11.

FIG. 10 illustrates a configuration example of a table in a userdatabase that is stored and managed by the user database 32 b in thethird example. FIG. 11 illustrates a screen display example, in theterminal 1, for a conversion unit display and payment balance after acharge (payment) operation in order for the user to purchase a remainingusage unit price in the third example.

The table in FIG. 10 includes a user ID for uniquely identifying a user,a phone number of the terminal 1 through which the user enjoys theservice, a sum (corresponding to usage units and rights) of thealready-paid balance of the user, and a period of validity of thebalance. Briefly, for instance the user having a user ID number “001”uses a terminal 1 to which the phone number “1234” is assigned. Thecurrent sum balance is “1,000 yen”, and the period of validity of thebalance is “Apr. 1, 2009”.

As illustrated in FIG. 11(a), a network connection control screen 91 ais displayed on the terminal 1 of the user, such that a charge (payment)button 95 is displayed on the network connection control screen 91 a.When the remaining time reaches zero or decreases, the user adds minutes(time), as a usable connection unit price, by tapping a charge (payment)button 95. Upon tapping of the button 95, the 1 terminal 1 displays apayment balance display screen 96 a as shown in FIG. 11(b).

A user ID (“001”), as the user identifier, is displayed on the screen 96a. A terminal phone number (“1234”), a payment balance (“1,000 yen”) anda period of validity “Apr. 1, 2009” of the balance are also displayed onthe screen 96 a. There is also displayed the conversion time of thenetwork connection corresponding to the payment balance, for eachintervening network during the connection. In the case of, for instance,network connection via WCDMA, the conversion time is 100 minutes; for afixed network, the conversion time is 14,400 minutes; and for WiMAX, theconversion time is 200 minutes. The display screen 96 a has also abutton for designating an additional charge (payment) operation, and abutton “close” for closing the display screen.

The display screen 96 b of FIG. 11(c) displays also a payment balancedisplay screen, in the terminal 1, to which electronic books aredownloaded, in another example. This screen differs from the screen 96 ain that the unit for conversion and comparison is now the number ofelectronic books. That is, the conversion units correspond to 10 booksin a case where the payment balance is 1,000 yen and the electronicbooks are downloaded using a WCDMA network. The conversion unitscorrespond to 20 books, for download using a fixed network, and 15books, for download using WiMAX.

In a case where the user further taps the “to additional charge(payment)” and pays according to the settling procedures for payment,the remaining usage units that are managed in the user managementdatabase 32 b of the service management center 4 are increased by thepurchased units.

In addition to direct purchases with cash or the like, as describedabove, another application of the present system allows a certain numberof units to be given by an operator, or by an advertiser, as part of anadvertisement campaign.

Needless to say, the present invention can accommodate variousmodifications without departing from the scope thereof.

The present invention is ordinarily useful in a wide variety ofenvironments, in the telecommunication industry, where information isexchanged through access of a terminal to a server.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for adjusting an amount of network usage units available to a user based on a network utilization ratio, comprising: receiving, from a terminal, a request for network usage units associated with a user; searching a user database that stores network usage units associated with an account of the user, thereby determining a number of network usage units for the user; providing the number of network usage units associated with the user to a unit converter; retrieving, at the unit converter, a modifying coefficient that is based on a current network utilization ratio; calculating an adjusted amount of network usage units associated with the user by multiplying the number of network usage units by the modifying coefficient; and providing, to the terminal, the adjusted amount of network usage units associated with the user.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network usage units comprise one or more minutes.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the network usage units comprise one or more books.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the network usage units comprise a number of communication connections.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying coefficient is 1 when the network utilization ratio is within a normal range.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying coefficient is greater than 1 when the network utilization ratio falls below a threshold value.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying coefficient is less than 1 when the network utilization ratio is greater than a threshold value.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying coefficient is inversely proportional to the network utilization ratio.
 9. A computer-implemented method for determining an adjusted amount of network usage units available to a user based on a network utilization ratio, comprising: determining a number of network usage units available to the user, wherein the initial number of network usage units is independent of a network utilization ratio; providing the number of network usage units associated with the user to a unit converter; determining a modifying coefficient based on at least one of a network utilization ratio and one or more services selected by the user; and calculating an adjusted amount of network usage units associated with the user by multiplying the number of network usage units by the modifying coefficient.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the modifying coefficient is 1 when the network utilization ratio is within a normal range.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the modifying coefficient is greater than 1 when the network utilization ratio falls below a threshold value.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the modifying coefficient is less than 1 when the network utilization ratio is greater than a threshold value.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the modifying coefficient is inversely proportional to the network utilization ratio.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein a magnitude of the modifying coefficient is adjusted based on a service selected by the user. 